


Panther & Paladin

by battle_goats



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Secret Identity, Vigilante AU, but gay, think the batman and catwoman dynamic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-07-15 11:47:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16062476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/battle_goats/pseuds/battle_goats
Summary: By day, Keith is just a greasy car mechanic.  By night, he's the Panther, an art thief who steals from those who've wrongfully taken art and returns it to the original owners.  Takashi Shirogane is the CEO of Atlas Engineering, the premiere engineering corporation in Garrison City.  He's also the Black Paladin, a vigilante determined to bring the Panther to justice.Their clashes slowly become flirtatious and skirt the line between fighting and fucking, all while being love with each other as civilians.





	Panther & Paladin

**Author's Note:**

> This is just an idea I wanted to get down. I have too much on my plate the rest of this year to even hope to get more of it done right now. If I do end up doing more, it likely won't be until some time next year.

The museum was mostly dark.  The floodlights that lit it up during business hours had all been shut off, leaving only some of the fainter hallway lights on for the guards to see by.  Which suited Keith just fine. It was also Tuesday night. Their laziest night guard was on duty. He sat in the monitor room and watched the cameras. He only ever got up if he spotted movement.  It was almost too easy.

Keith settled his mask over his face, the glowing purple eyes lit up the dark ventilation shaft he was in.  

“How we doing Pidge?” he hissed.  The mic and earpiece built into his mask were so small and subtle, it was easy for him to forget it was even there.

“Quiet.  Lazy-ass in there is all holed up in the monitor room, and the feed for this room is on a loop.  No sign of Tall, Dark and Roguishly Handsome. You’re good to go,” she answered. Keith reached into his belt and drew his knife.  He wiggled the point into the small gap between the siding of the shaft and the grate that separated him from the museum interior. He got to work jiggling the screws loose.

“Do you have to call him that?” he asked.

“Keith, you’ve seen his jawline up close.  With his build, there is absolutely no way he isn’t hot.  You two certainly flirt enough when you meet.”

Keith sighed and refused to comment.  There was no way he could possibly deny that Pidge was right.  The one she called Tall, Dark and Roguishly Handsome was Garrison City’s local masked vigilante.  And he sure as hell couldn’t deny that the man lit a fire in his blood that no one ever had. Not even the man Keith was certain he was in love with could do that.  There was something about Takashi Shirogane that was so reserved, like he was holding something back, that always made Keith hesitate.

But now was no the time to be thinking about his love life.  He had a job to do. One screw popped free, and he could just barely make out the sound it made as it hit the floor.  Keith immediately got to work on the second one. This one was already a little loose, and it came free faster.

He opened the grate and pulled it back into the shaft so he could put it back when he was done.  Keith glanced over the ground below. It was a straight drop to the ground from here. He could make the drop, but getting back up would be a bit more difficult, but not impossible.  Keith dropped down to the floor and landed in a crouch.

He approached the display, and could make out the hum of electricity feeding to the alarm system.  The painting he was after had come to the museum’s possession under questionable circumstances. According to Pidge’s intel, it had been in the possession of an older woman who had steadfastly refused even lend the painting to the museum for a short-term gallery.  And then she had suddenly suffered a stroke and the painting was hanging here. She had lived, thankfully, which was the only reason he was even here.

“How’s it coming with the security?” he asked.

“Almost done.  Just oooone second,” Pidge said.  The hum died down. “There!”

“Great.  Beginning extraction,” he said.  Keith reached for the painting when Pidge’s panic voice reached him.

“Keith!  It’s him!”

“Well, well, fancy meeting you here.”

A shiver ran up Keith’s spine.  That dangerous little thrill that ran through his body every time they met was already there.  He turned to see him casually leaning against a pillar.

“I could say the same to you, Paladin,” Keith said.  He stepped away from the painting. He already knew the job was a bust for the night.  The Black Paladin was Garrison City’s resident caped crusader. He was tall, broad, had a jawline that could cut glass, and his voice made Keith’s insides feel like putty.  He hated the man, but given the chance, he would absolutely let himself get rawed by him.

The cloak the Paladin wore was brushed aside.  He dressed in all black, a cowl that covered his head and the top half of his face.  Other than the fancy gloves he wore to enhance his grip, everything about the man was low-tech.  He wore a basic compression shirt that did things to Keith’s libido, along with a pair of black cargo pants.  Cargo pants! Topped off with a pair of heavy tread combat boots, The Black Paladin had to be the cheapest looking vigilante Keith had ever encountered.  Even Keith at least wore some kind of actual body armor over his chest.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you take that painting,” the Paladin said.  His feet shifted, ready to move if Keith did.

“The museum had no right to take it either,” Keith retorted with a snort.

“Please, Panther, you only wish you were Robin Hood,” the Paladin said with a shake of his head.  He had a wry smile on his lips as he stepped closer.

“Awful high and mighty from the guy who’s just as wanted by Commissioner Sanda,” Keith said.

“I’m not here to argue semantics with you, Panther.”

Keith boldly took a large step forward.  The Paladin didn’t move. He kept stepping closer, and he saw the Paladin’s shoulders relax before tensing again. Keith let his hips sway just a little, and he raised a hand to teasingly run his fingertips across the Paladin’s chest.  He circled, in much the way a predator circles its prey. His hand dragged over strong shoulders and across that broad back. The Black Paladin was an absolute specimen of a man. As he came back around, he found his wrist caught in a strong grip.

“You’ve stolen four paintings in the last three months.  You’ve been a busy boy,” the Paladin said.

“Oh yeah?  Are you gonna punish me for it?” Keith asked.  He could hear Pidge groaning into his ear. He did feel sorry that she ended up listening in on whatever this was between them all the time.  Because they were getting beyond just flirting. The innuendos, the little touches. Everything was escalating and it was frightening just as much as it was thrilling.

“I bet you’d like that,” the Paladin murmured close to his ear.  His free hand stroked down his spine and stopped dangerously close to the swell of his ass.  Keith hoped the man would go for it already. Instead, he pushed the Paladin away and put some distance between them.

“As much as I’d love to stay and find out, I really must be going.  The looped feed on the cameras is about to expire, after all.”

Keith definitely didn’t stumble as he scrambled back into the air vent.  He replaced the grate and hustled through the ducts and out to the roof.

“Keith, I’m just gonna say it, but you two are really fucking gay,” Pidge said.

“Shut it,” he hissed.  Keith raced across the rooftop to leap over to the neighboring building.  His face was hot under the mask, his gut churned, and his heart raced from more than just the exertion of his escape.

“Seriously.  Maybe you should hang up the hood and just ask Shirogane out.  You two have been dancing around each other for literally years.  If you don’t have to see the Black Paladin anymore, you wouldn’t be dealing with all this,” she said.

“I said shut up!” Keith snapped.  He escaped the museum property and took refuge on the roof of a nearby restaurant.  She was right, and she damn well knew it. Keith had been in love with the CEO of Atlas Engineering for nearly two years, and he was almost one hundred percent certain his feelings were returned.  But something was holding them both back. Keith knew that the fact that he was considered an art thief, and the Black Paladin was what prevented him from acting. But what the hell was Shiro’s excuse.

Keith removed his mask.  The eyes went dark, and he stared at the muzzle and whisker pattern on the face.  He couldn’t do this forever. But he couldn’t quit just yet. Just for a little bit longer.


End file.
